Indonesian Police Turn Up the Heat on Immoral Behavior in Pre-Valentine’s Day Raids

Couples across Indonesia had their pre-Valentine’s Day plans interrupted on Wednesday as police and public order officers raided parks, hotel rooms and cemeteries in a campaign against immoral activity.

Late-night lovers were sent scrambling for their motorbikes in Bogor, West Java, after the local Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) raided eight parks, according to reports on Okezone.com. The couples were charged with disturbing public order and causing societal unrest before they were taken to the Bogor social agency for education, Bogor Satpol PP chief Hendi Iskandar said.

The teens were released to their parents’ custody.

“Some were sent back to their parents,” Hendi told Sindonews.com. “The rest were taken to a rehabilitation house.”

Officers also arrested several prostitutes in the raids, he added.

In Bojonegoro, East Java, police raided every hotel room in the city, arresting eight couples accused of adultery, according to Bharatanews.com. The officers reportedly barged in on the couples as they were engaged in “amorous encounters.”

A 25-year-old prison warden was arrested and charged with committing adultery with a 19-year-old woman in a rented house. A civil servant was also nabbed in the raid when police caught the 37-year-old with a woman in a hotel room. He allegedly told police the woman was his sister, but they didn’t believe him.

The couples were taken to the police station and ordered to write a statement promising they wouldn’t do it again.

Adultery is illegal under Article 284 of the Criminal Code and is punishable by a maximum of nine months in jail.

In Kendiri, East Java, the military joined the police and Satpol PP on the raids, scouring a Chinese cemetery, a sports center and the hillside for amorous couples, according to reports on Inilah.com.

“There is also a new place for late-night trysts,” the Kendiri Satpol PP’s Djati Utomo explained. “The Sumber Jiput {water resevior] in the Ngronggo urban ward.”

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